Man, Ive been out all morning slaving at getting my truck up to par before it gets painted and it seems like Im getting nowhere. I opted to do all the bodywork myself and get some experience out of it, but I have to say it sucks. I still need to bend my bumper out where I rear ended someone...(Not horrible but noticeable enough to me) sand down the entire truck, bondo minor holes and dings, primer the entire truck, then wet sand it. Im gonna be at this for weeks. Anyone have any pointers?

 

Id rather blow my brains out than do body work.......good luck

 

Run your hand over the bondo a lot to feel for scratches and imperfections. If you can feel it you will definitely see it after paint.

Prep is everything when it comes to body work. The actual painting is the easy part. Take time and it will pay off.

 

Moved.

 

+100000000000

 

+1 some things just arent worth saving money, take it to a pro.

 

yeah deff. take it to a pro, if your bondo is at all waved or anything it will be very noticeable. for all of teh hours you will spend on your car, go spend them at your job and pay someone to do it.

 

If you have an air compressor, get a DA and it will save you ALOT of time.

Make sure your bondo is smooth as possible when your applying it. Once your bondo starts to get hard (It will start to feel like your working with clay) Throw it away, and get a new batch, You have about 5-10 minutes to work with bondo depending on how much hardener you use.

If you use bondo thats starting to get hard on you, when your spreading it, you'll get airbubbles and stuff in your bondo, and when you sand it they will show through, and you'll have to apply more bondo.

If you know who's painting it, and your going to be helping, make sure you blow the car off REALLY well before they prime, then use 320 grit sand paper on the primer, blow it off really well again, then clean it off with tack rags, then paint.

The key is take your time, If you try to rush the prep the paint will look like shit. Best advice I can say is do it right, and use a DA.

By the way, what kind of paint are you using on it? Single stage or double stage?

 

Single Stage. Its just going to Jet Black, nothing crazy or special. Im kind of going for that intimidator look, Blacked out everything, with the exception of the SS badging and Lighting. Normally I would take it somewhere and get it done, but I like learning new fields, and if Im going to be restoring cars as a hobby, Id better learn how to do most of it myself.

 

The DA is good for getting it close but you have to do it by hand with a long board to finish.